From our archives:

80 years ago

The Princess Royal had consented to lay the foundation stone of the new combined mission church and church hall in Dodsworth Avenue, York, on July 25.

Her Royal Highness had also later the same afternoon agreed to open the new playing fields on Stockton Lane which have been secured for the York Blue Coat School for boys and the Grey Coat School for girls.

Hunmanby Church Council had approved the recommendations by the Vicar of Hunmanby and accepted the contract for the repair of the roof to Hunmanby Parish Church by a Scarborough company.

It was hoped that work would start shortly after Easter and would be finished about the end of July.

The fund for the repair of the beetle-infested roof was steadily growing and nearly £200 had been raised towards the £1,000 required.

And members of York Playgoers’ Club heard a lecture at the Theatre Royal on the art of “Chinese Theatre”.

50 years ago

Newly-married pop singer Sandie Shaw and fashion designer husband Jeff Banks had been barred from a charter plane at Heathrow Airport after British Eagle officials told them they could not fly to New York on a pop fashion special because they did not have valid vaccination certificates.

The flight was delayed for eight hours because the charter plane had not arrived in London from another flight.

A protest to the Ministry of Education over the proposed closure of Kilburn C of E School had been made by the parents of 18 of the children affected.

The managers and parents had been shocked and surprised by the decision of the North Riding Education Committee as it had been a complete reverse of the original plan accepted by the county council.

And the reigning Selby egg rolling champion, 10-year-old Gary Mountford, had a busy week preparing his “runner” for the Selby Working Men’s Club annual egg rolling competition.

20 years ago

The people of Northern Ireland had woken to a new dawn after their leaders had put behind them centuries of conflict and suspicion to strike an historic peace deal.

And an elderly woman had been killed when a gas explosion ripped through her tiny bungalow in Selby.

The gas exploded in the kitchen, and was so forceful it destroyed the lounge window, sending shards of glass hurtling on to a communal lawn 15 yards away.